1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to wireless network methods and systems, and more particularly to methods and systems for gathering data, performing database updates, and/or generating report information associated with a wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone communication has seen phenomenal growth since its inception because of its extreme usefulness in today's world. Modern telephones include generic desktop telephone units, cordless telephones and more advanced cellular telephones (or “cell phones”). In contrast to a cordless telephone unit, a cellular telephone allows portability in that a cell phone operator can use the cell phone thousands of miles from home and is supported by a sophisticated telecommunications system.
A cellular service provider's network includes a number of interconnected cellular switches or mobile switching centers (MSC's) that facilitate cell phone portability in the network. The cellular network also typically includes a large number of cell sites, with each MSC generally serving more than one cell site. The cell phone operated by a mobile subscriber (MS) communicates with an appropriate base station over a radio link established between the base station and the cell phone. The base station, in turn, forwards signals received from the cell phone to the corresponding MSC for further processing and propagation. Similarly, the base station relays messages received from the MSC to the appropriate cell phone within the cell site served by the base station. Thus, the base station may be viewed as a conduit of messages exchanged between the MSC and a cell phone.
It is observed that the cellular service provider may add more cell sites (and base stations) or reconfigure existing cell site boundaries to cope with increased cellular traffic in the service provider's cellular network. The increased cellular traffic may have resulted from the new cell phone operators or from mobile subscribers signing up for the service provider's cellular services and operating within the network. Increased cellular traffic can also, of course, result from increased usage of cellular services by existing subscribers. The addition of new cell sites or reconfiguration of existing cell sites to accommodate increased cellular traffic requires that the new cell sites be “retuned” for effective communication with corresponding MSC's. The radio communication between a new (or existing) cell site and its associated MSC often needs to be monitored to evaluate whether the MSC recognizes the cell site. Also, any new MSC's added in the cellular network, or any MSC's already operational in the network, may need to be maintained and routinely checked for effective radio communication with a cell phone operative within the cellular network region served by a particular MSC.
In the telecommunications architecture developed under the “LUCENT” trade designation, for example, the advent of TDMA technology introduced a significant amount of new translations or software settings. Due to this increased number of translations or changes in software settings, entering retune information manually is rapidly becoming prohibitive from a productivity perspective. Retunes are typically performed during off-peak hours to minimize potential impact to the customer. Retunes usually involve nocturnal work performed by human technicians prone to mistakes caused by exhaustion and fatigue. There is a need, therefore, for a retune tool that employs automation to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness of retunes within a wireless network.
In a cellular system, as new cells are being deployed, the frequency plan has to be continually modified. If a new cell is introduced between two existing cells, for example, information for the new cell and its neighbors needs to be modified. As a result, frequency retunes are often required to properly integrate the new cell into the existing system. Currently, retune is being performed manually, and it takes considerable time and resources to retune a site in this manner. Also, such manual procedures can introduce human errors that may further frustrate efforts to resolve problem analysis and resolution. Automating the retune process would enhance processing of updates of the database with new channel numbers and other information and also eliminate human errors.
In addition, when one or more fields in a call-specific database need to be changed, manually completing the updates can require a prohibitive amount of time. Such changes are also typically prone to human error occasioned by manual data entry operations. What is needed therefore are a method and system that can update the appropriate information in the database while reducing clerical errors associated with manual processes.
In addition, data related to calls occurring within a given geographical area are not always susceptible to effective reporting. Information related to fraudulent use, for example, of wireless technology and, more generally, to problems occurring within a wireless network is often separated into different data files. What is needed is a way to combine data files related to call data in a report format, such as a graphical representation, that can be readily analyzed to permit resolution of problems in a wireless network. Use of such reports is also needed across a variety of equipment that can be employed within a given wireless network.